The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

133. Decontamination

Amara was just beginning to work on dinner when Eliana slipped into the room, looking unusually pleased about something.

"Hey," Amara said with a smile. "What's going on? I haven't seen you all day."

Glancing around to make sure no one else was in the room, Eliana said softly, "Amara, I need to tell you something, but you can't tell anyone."

"Including Sirius?" Amara asked curiously, washing her hands as she paused to give her friend her full attention.

"You can tell him, but neither of you can say a word to anyone," Eliana said.

"Okay, what's going on?" Amara asked, her brows furrowed in concern.

"Well...I don't even know how to say it," Eliana said, nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. "Amara, Remus and I-"

Amara gasped, clapping her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide.

"No," she gasped. "Actually?"

Eliana nodded.

"Ellie!" Amara cried, instantly wrapping her arms around her.

Eliana couldn't help but let out a bright laugh as she returned her friend's embrace. They held each other close, both nearly in tears with joy.

Pulling away, Amara demanded, "Tell me everything. How did it happen?"

"I don't even know," Eliana admitted, blushing. "We were talking last night, and he asked me why I never got married, but when he told me he never got married because no one would ever marry a werewolf, I told him that I would have. He got all weird and started to leave, but...I've just been so tired of pretending I don't still love him, Amara. I told him how I felt, and he...he feels the same."

"Ellie, I'm so happy for you," Amara said, taking her hands in her own as she smiled, happy tears pooling in her eyes. Sombreing slightly, she asked, "What about Althea?"

"Well..." Eliana said, growing slightly awkward. "We were planning to not tell her, not until we knew how serious it is, but...she kind of saw Remus leaving my room this morning."

Amara's jaw dropped as she fought back a laugh.

"No," she laughed. "Did she know what-"

"Oh, she knew," Eliana interrupted with a laugh. "So, I guess we all just need to hope it works out, because she already knows and according to Remus, she seemed really happy about it."

"Ellie, I'm happy for you," Amara said softly, embracing her again. "It was always too cruel that the two of you never married."

.

"Guess what?" Amara said, sitting down beside Sirius that night as he saw reading.

"What?" he asked, not looking up.

"Sirius, this is important," she said, taking his book from him and marking his place.

"You have my attention," he said with a bemused smile as she set aside his book. "What's going on?"

"Sirius, Ellie and Remus got back together," Amara said.

"What?" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up as his entire expression alighted. "You're not serious."

Amara nodded, taking his hands into her own.

"They're keeping it quiet for now, but yes, they're together, Sirius," Amara said excitedly.

"Amara, that's amazing," Sirius said softly. "Does Althea know?"

Fighting back a laugh, Amara explained, "She caught Remus leaving Ellie's room the following morning."

Sirius snorted, fighting back a laugh as he met Amara's eyes. Covering his mouth with his hand, he began to laugh, leaning his head back against the headboard.

"Oh, god," he cackled, rubbing his eyes as his laughter, conjoined with Amara's intensified.

.

The next several days were fun ones for the children who spent nearly every moment waging war against the house, often with not only the help but Molly but also Sirius. Occasionally, Order members would join them like Tonks and even Remus, though he had begun leaving for long periods of time to do some kind of mysterious work he refused to speak of. Eliana would occasionally join them as well, but more often than not, she was either working with Amara, who worked in the decontaminated rooms to redecorate and remodel them until they were not only much brighter, but far less gloomy than before, or was locked in the house's large library, from which Eliana would emerge only to get her meals before she disappeared again with her plate.

Amara was redecorating it all from dark greens, blacks, reds, and purples to bright lilacs and blues. One room was a light grey, but she had added a false window which filled the room with natural lighting, making it seem much brighter and warmer than before. She even redecorated the kitchen, adding a false window and a false skylight as well as decorating the walls with pieces of bright artwork in the impressionistic style, usually of landscapes.

When Harry asked Sirius where all these paintings, which had also begun appearing in the finished rooms, were coming from, Sirius explained, "Amara paints some in her spare time."

"Those are hers?" Althea, who had overheard, said in awe.

"Every one," Sirius said with a proud smile.

Overall, it became a far less gloomy house than it had been at the beginning of the summer.

Before they knew it, it had been over a month since Harry had joined them in Grimmauld Place. They were all sitting at dinner, each talking cheerfully. Eliana and Remus, the latter of whom had just returned from a week of being away, talked cheerfully with Althea while Ginny, Fred, and George talked and laughed with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Sirius and Amara were standing by the island in the kitchen, working together to finish icing the red velvet cake they had made earlier in the day.

Harry couldn't help but smile as he heard Amara let out a small shriek, jumping away from Sirius who had just hit her with his spatula, smearing frosting on her cheek. Before long, however, she had gotten him back before he caught her in his arms, kissing her despite the frosting on his nose.

Suddenly, however, Molly turned to Harry as she said, "I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight too. A good first impression can work wonders."

Instantly, everyone fell silent. Even Sirius and Amara had stopped smiling as they cleaned the frosting from their faces.

"How am I getting there?" Harry asked finally, his voice sounding oddly taut.

"Arthur's taking you to work with him," Molly explained.